The Left in the European Parliament is looking for an Administrative Assistant (French- or Spanish-speaking)

Post: Temporary agent - Assistant - Administrative assistant (grade AST.3)

Based in: Brussels, but short missions to the other places of work and to other Member States.

Context

The LEFT Group in the European Parliament brings together MEPs from a range of European left and progressive parties - ecological, socialist, communist, and independent. In virtually all policy areas, it argues against the mainstream neoliberal prescriptions for the EU and focusses on presenting progressive policy alternatives. Staff must be comfortable in this environment and both capable of, and fully at ease with, supporting our MEPs in their policy objectives.

As staff of a political group, which has a different function to that of a public administration, the appointees must hold the trust and confidence of the appointing authority (the Group Chair and General Secretary), they are expected to generally reflect the values of the group, and to be capable of readily producing research and proposals which fit with the outlook of the group’s MEPs.

Although temporary-agent contracts are of indefinite duration, the work of the Group is generally organised in 5-year legislative cycles. This means that, at the beginning of each legislative period, the staff organigram must be reorganised to reflect the changed composition and political priorities of the Group, which may mean that some contracts will not be continued.

This vacancy is expected to attract applications from staff (Temporary & Contract Agents and Officials) already within the Left, in other political groups and the European Parliament administration as well as from external candidates who meet the qualifying conditions.

The LEFT Group is launching this recruitment procedure in order to establish a reserve list for future vacant posts in the group after the elections of June 2024. However, being on a reserve list is not a guarantee of recruitment.

Equal opportunities

The LEFT group is an equal-opportunities employer and encourages applications from qualified candidates who fulfil the conditions for admission, excluding all discrimination.

Candidate profile

In this context of establishing a reserve list, the LEFT Group is interested in administrative assistant profiles to support its secretariat and is interested in candidates with experience in the following areas:

• Administrative and plenary support

• policy work (notably ENVI, EMPL)

The successful candidate will have solid experience in office management skills and substantial knowledge of the legislative work. S/He will be adaptable and able to accommodate the varying needs of a political group in terms of: the changing volume and intensity of the workload; the type of contribution required ranging from high-level advice to basic administrative support; and, a work schedule determined by the parliamentary and political calendar.

Duties

The successful candidate would be deployed to support the work of central secretariat. Duties shall include:

• providing high level support and contributing to coordination of group work in committee and plenary;

• Drafting minutes, notes, briefings,  letters and other documents;

• Attending, and preparing meeting notes on the business of, Parliamentary and Joint Committee meetings;

• Contributing to research pieces on policy-area topics for publication or internal use;

• contributing to internal communication and office management; liaising with the communication unit with regard to relevant information on policy issues;

• helping to organise events and related activities for the group, according to the 400 credits and in line with the rules of the Group, the EP Bureau and the EU Financial Regulation.

General conditions for admission

Before appointment, the successful candidate will be required to prove compliance with the conditions laid down in Article 12(2) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union of the Staff Regulation regarding nationality, military service, appropriate character for the performance of the duties, physical fitness and linguistic knowledge.

This selection procedure is open to any candidate provided that they have:

• a level of education which corresponds to a complete cycle of university studies of at least three years sanctioned by a diploma (Article 5(3)(b) of the Staff Regulations);

• at least 3 years relevant professional experience following acquisition of the qualification in the first indent;

• for operational reasons, very good knowledge of English will be necessary and a working knowledge of French or Spanish ; knowledge of other EU languages will be taken into account.

• very good knowledge of good communications practices and an knowledge of ICT systems and practices;

• a thorough knowledge of the institutional structure of the EU, including the role and activities of the EP and its political groups.

The role of administrative assistant is a position of responsibility within the Left structure which requires availability and flexibility, a methodological approach, discretion and adaptation to varying duties.

For these reasons, the successful candidate shall have:

• The 3 years of relevant professional experience required above shall include some in the EP or similar institutions, and may include traineeship;

• Excellent research, written and oral communication skills

• knowledge of EU policy debates, working of EP bodies and plenary organisation

• knowledge and practical experience of the EP legislative procedure in committee and plenary;

• knowledge and/or experience of the LEFT’s legislative work and the policy orientation of its MEPs and constituent member parties;

• sufficient empathy with the political outlook and objectives of the Group to be able to instinctively anticipate policy positions on new topics without the need for close supervision or direction;

Position to be filled: Post to be available from 01 September 2024

Application Procedure:

Applications should be sent by email in a single attached .pdf file, not later than 12h00 noon on 29 April 2024, to left.applications@europarl.europa.eu

Applications should have “SRN No IRC185440 in the email subject line and include: a signed application/motivation letter, indicating the Reference Number of the position being applied for; a completed Left Europass CV (downloadable from www.left.eu / the Group) including a current email contact address; and photocopies of the documents necessary to demonstrate fulfilment of the experience and qualifications requirements prescribed for the post or claimed by the applicant.

Applications may be made in any of the official EU languages; however, the application dossier must include an English version of the application letter, the CV and an itemised list of numbered attachments.

Candidates who fail to fulfil any of these conditions will be automatically eliminated.

Selection procedure

The selection procedure shall be on the basis of qualifications and oral and written tests.

The selection board will draw up the list of candidates who meet the eligibility and application conditions.

It will then establish a list - normally between 3 and 5 per post - of those eligible candidates whose qualifications and experience best match the duties to be carried out and who will be called for tests.

Written tests will be in English and in French or Spanish.

The maximum time allowed will be 75 minutes and 30 % max of the marks will be available.

Some questions will require essay-style answers, others may be multiple-choice or general knowledge in format. More detail on this part will be provided with the invitation to interview.

Interviews with the selection board will be in English, with optional questions in other languages to test linguistic competence, lasting from 15-20 minutes; 70% of the marks will be available for this test which will also take account of the answers to the general knowledge part of the written test as well as the information in the applicant's application file.

Following these tests, the selection board will establish a list of suitable candidates to be placed on a reserve list. Future appointments would be made by the AECE of the group following the election results according to the needs of the Group. The reserve list shall remain valid until 30 June 2026, renewable. If so, shortlisted candidates will be informed accordingly.

Communication with the candidates about arrangements at each stage of the selection procedure will be via the Group’s website and by email. Applications will always be confirmed by return.

Enquiries, for information not on the website, should be by email only.